AMD Opteron chip new numbers scheme

And in news related to my previous offering, here, which talked about this article here, a news article on CNET.COM news, here, discusses today's announcement by AMD that there will be a new matrix of model numbers for its forthcoming 64-bit chips for workstations and servers.

IN BRIEF:[COLOR=royalblue]
*Models will have such names as "the AMD Opteron 140 Series."
*Opteron, AMD's next generation of high-end chips, is set to debut on April 22.
*The chip is expected to start at speeds of about 2GHz. But the new model numbers don't reflect clock speed. Instead, they show whether a given chip is designed for single- or multiple-processor servers and then point to its performance relative to other chips in the same family.
*The new Opteron lines will include the 100 Series, for single-processor machines; the 200 Series, for dual-processor systems; and the 800 Series, for computers using up to eight processors.
*The individual chips will start their numbering at 40, so under the new nomenclature there would be a model 140, a model 240 and a model 840. As chip speed increases, so would the model number--a model 142, for instance, would be faster than a model 140, and a model 144 would be faster still. [/COLOR]

So, we have a performance rating scale with the Athlon XP that's different from the MHz rating used by Intel, and now we have something entirely new and different as well. More confusion for the general public. But I will admit though that the prospect of getting my hands on one of these babies is pretty exciting.